Threats, Apprehension and Hope as Mumbai Residents Await the Bulldozers

For months, coercive phone calls continued. At first, reportedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, later from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is one of many opposing a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is like nowhere else in the world," explains the protester. "But their intention is to destroy our community and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that dominate the area. Dwellings are built haphazardly and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the environment is permeated by the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, contemporary malls and apartments with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision come true.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, roads or sewage systems and we have no places for children to play," says a tea vendor, 56, who moved from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

However, some, like Shaikh, are resisting the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need economic input and modernization. Yet they are concerned that this project – absent of resident participation – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, displacing the marginalized, migrant communities who have been there since the late 1800s.

It was these marginalized, migrant workers who built up the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose economic value is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the crowded 220-hectare area, less than 50% will be able for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the remote edges of the city, potentially break up a generations-old community. Certain individuals will not get homes at all.

Those allowed to remain in the area will be provided apartments in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the organic, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has supported Dharavi for so long.

Commercial activities from clothing production to clay work and waste processing are projected to reduce in scale and be relocated to a designated "industrial sector" distant from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like Shaikh, a leather artisan and long-time of his family to live in Dharavi, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, multi-level workshop produces garments – formal jackets, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives lives in the rooms underneath and laborers and garment workers – workers from other states – reside in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently significantly more expensive for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

Within the official facilities in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows a very different outlook. Fashionable inhabitants gather on cycles and e-vehicles, buying continental baguettes and breakfast items and socializing on a patio adjacent to a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains the neighborhood.

"This is not improvement for residents," explains Shaikh. "It represents a massive real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

There is also distrust of the business conglomerate. Headed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the business group has encountered allegations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

While the state government labels it a partnership, the corporation contributed $950m for its controlling interest. A case stating that the project was improperly granted to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to actively protest the development, protesters and community members claim they have been experienced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – including communications, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the development was tantamount to speaking against the country – by individuals they allege work for the corporate group.

Among those suspected of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c